Radio access communication networks such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) networks may be used for machine to machine (M2M) communications, also known as machine type communications (MTC). Generally, MTC may allow a device to remotely report information over the network to an MTC application and/or a MTC server that collects the information. Devices employing MTC may be used in a variety of situations. One example situation includes smart meters that report resource consumption to a utility company server using a radio access communication network. Other examples of applications that may utilize MTC include security networks, for use in surveillance, alarm or people tracking systems; transportation networks, for managing fleets, collecting tolls, and assisting with emission control; electronic health (eHealth) applications; manufacturing networks, including monitoring and automation; and facility management networks, for home, building, and/or campus automation.
Because of all these applications, devices employing MTC on a given radio access communication network have the potential to substantially outnumber the devices used for human to human (H2H) communication. As the number of devices employing MTC on a given radio access communication grows, it is important to manage the communication networks as efficiently as possible so as to optimize device and network performance.
Various solutions have been proposed to reduce or prevent signaling congestion or overload on a network. One solution uses a backoff-based scheme. In this scheme, a backoff time for User Equipment (UE) devices (e.g., mobile phones) is set to a fixed small value (e.g., 20 milliseconds) and a backoff time for MTC devices is set to a fixed large value (e.g., 960 milliseconds). One difficulty with such schemes, however is that they are unable to solve the problems that result from high congestion levels.
Another solution rejects connection requests using Service Gateway or Mobility Management Entity (SGSN/MME). Such solutions also have a large amount of congestion in the radio access network. Another rejection-based scheme involves Radio Access Network (RAN) or barring access to MTC devices in order to give priority to UE devices. Other solutions separate or dynamically allocate random access channel (RACH) resources for MTC. These schemes, however, require the availability of RACH resources.
Another solution uses pull-based paging to page MTC devices. In these systems, the core network pages the MTC devices to request a data report based on the network load condition. Each MTC device, in turn, performs a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment. One problem with pull-based paging, however, is that contention-based RACH is required, which can lead to signaling congestion or significant access delay in high congestion situations.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.